Dining review: When hungry for lunch, go for Broke Eatery
Jambalaya, Blackened Caesar Salad and a Broke Taco are available at Broke Eatery in downtown Provo on Tuesday.
A Broke Burger is available at Broke Eatery in downtown Provo.
Jambalaya is available at Broke Eatery.
Honey Crisp is available at Broke Eatery.
A Broke Taco is available at Broke Eatery in downtown Provo.
A Blackened Caesar Salad is available at Broke Eatery in downtown Provo.
Jambalaya is available at Broke Eatery in downtown Provo on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016. SAMMY JO HESTER, Daily Herald
Jambalaya is available at Broke Eatery in downtown Provo.
The first floor of The Madison in Provo appears to have been cursed as a restaurant venue, with more dining places passing through than Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers going through Hogwarts.
The latest entry, Broke Eatery, may just break the curse.
Even before sitting down and eating the (delicious) food, the space welcomes diners with fun decor and inviting music. When we went, synth pop made our toes tap while we waited for the food, which only increased our appetites.
The chef, Kitamba Satcher, is also an executive sous chef at the Marriott Hotel in Provo and has opened a Broke Eatery in California before coming to his new Utah home.
All of the food at Broke Eatery is prepared in a Louisiana Creole style. The Broke Burger comes with a dollop of crumbled meat rather than a patty — it’s more like a less-sloppy sloppy joe than a traditional burger. And it tastes great. The vegetables tasted fresh, the bun was grilled and the special sauce made it unmissable.
The burger also comes with seasoned fries and a yellow house sauce that isn’t, surprisingly for the color, mustard-based. It’s a creole tartar sauce, and it provides a nice variation from the norm for French fry sauces, though it may not replace the tried-and-true red and yellow sauces altogether.
The Blackened Chicken Caesar Salad comes as you would likely expect it, but the sauce and the chicken make the salad worthy of being its own main dish, rather than a side. The chicken is seasoned and succulent.
Jambalaya is a couple dollars less in price than the other main dishes, but it doesn’t hold back anything in terms of flavor or how filling it is. It’s a New Orleans specialty — rice, sauce and sliced sausage as the key ingredients.
The Jambalaya tastes great and is the kind of food that feels nourishing to the soul as well as the body when you eat it, especially when it’s a bit cold outside. The warm concoction of flavors go down just right.
Each day, Broke Eatery has a daily special that it announces on its social media pages. When we went, the special was the Fried Shrimp Po’ Boy sandwich with choice of seasoned fries or Sausage Tomato and Potato Soup.
We went with the latter side, and it was both warm and flavorful.
The Po’ Boy is like a burger, coming with several of the same fixings, but the meat is three pieces of fried shrimp. Those who associate their shrimp with words like “bottomless” may be disappointed at the way the fried sea creatures are employed here — as part of a larger whole — but the unbiased will appreciate the unique taste.
I was excited to try the fresh-squeezed cucumber/mint water from the menu, but found out it was more of a seasonal item, with less demand now that it’s a bit colder outside, so they don’t make it anymore — but the server said there are plans for more seasonal items soon.
Not only does Broke Eatery have good food and fun vibes on its side to break the Madison Curse, but it also seems to have a smart business sense. The menu is not overly ambitious at this early point — just a few stable items, with a daily special. And it’s only open at lunchtime, Tuesdays through Saturdays.
It’s making us hungry for more. Not a bad strategy.
BROKE EATERY
Where: 295 W. Center St., Provo
Prices: $4.99-$10.99
Hours: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays
Info: facebook.com/brokeeateryprovo/